Boiler-tube cleaner.



E. J. MQCARTY.

BOILER TUBE CLEANER.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 27, 1906. RENEWED NOV. 9, 1907.

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Patented 0011.27, 1908.

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nnrrnn STATES PATENT OFFTCE.

EUGENE J. MCCARTY, OF CLINTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO THE CLINTON SPECIALTY MANUFACTURING COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF MASSACHUSETTS.

BOILER-TUBE CLEANER.

Specification of Letters latent.

Patented Oct. 27, 1908.

Application filed January 27, 1906, Serial No. 298,137. Renewed November 9, 1907. Serial No. 401,492.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, EUGENE J. MoCAR'rY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Clinton, in the county of Worcester and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and use ful Boiler-Tube Cleaner, of which the following is a specification.

In that class of boilers employing water tubes, wherein the water is circulated or contained within the tubes and the heat or fire strikes the outside of the tubes, it is necessary to clean the inside of the tubes from time to time to remove the scale and sediment which forms on the inside of the tubes. This is usually done by providing the boiler with hand holes and removable covers, and by inserting cleaning devices and by cleaning out the inside of the tubes. Obviously this can be done only when there is no steam in the boiler. Permanently located cleaning devices in the tubes have been proposed but the hand hole covers have to be removed to operate them.

In many cases water tube boilers have to be used continuously for a long time, .and hence the tubes cannot be cleaned as often as they should be. This leads to rapid deterioration and break-down of the boilers. To obviate this difficulty I have provided a cleaning device which can be permanently located in each tube, and means are provided extending out through the boiler casing or header so that this cleaning device can be operated whenever desired, no matter whether the boiler is under pressure or not. It is preferred, however, to o erate the cleaning de vice when the boiler is under pressure, as by doing so the scale or sediment will be carried down by the circulation of the water into the mud-drum at the bottom of the boiler and can be easily removed.

In the preferred form of my invention, each water tube is provided with a spiral wire spring which fits tightly inside the tube, and said spiral wire is attached to a shaft which extends outside the boiler casing and which can be provided with means for rotating the same. Then whenever it is desired to clean the tube, all that is necessary is to rotate the wire spring. By doing this the entire interior of the tube will be reached and the sediment or scale knocked off so as to be carried away by the circulation of the water. By this arrangement the tubes can be easily cleaned whenever desired no matter whether the boiler is in operation or not.

The device is also applied so that it can be easily detached if it is desired to clean any of the tubes in the old manner, or to get at the inside of the boiler.

One application of my invention is illus trated in the accompanying drawing; referring to which,

Figure 1 is a partial sectional view illustrating the end of a water tube boiler with my invention applied thereto, and Fig. 2 is an (illlustration of a cap which is sometimes use 1 Referring to the drawing and in detail, A designates the header, and B two of the tubes of a water tube boiler. The header is provided opposite each tube with a hand-hole,

each of which is covered by a hand-hole cover 10 which is kept in place by a bridge 11. A bushing 12 is iitted to the bridge 11, and extends out through the hand-hole cover 10, and has threaded onto the end of the same a nut 13 and a check-nut 14. A packing is usually arranged between the nuts 13 and 14 so that by screwing the same up tightly the hand-hole cover will seal the boiler. This bushing is provided with a head 25 located in a recess 26 on the inner side of the hand hole cover.

A spiral wire or spring 17 is inserted in the water tube B and is permanently located therein. The spiral is made to fit tightly to the inside of the tube. The end of the wire is passed through and secured in the head 16 of a shaft or bolt 15 which extends out through the bushing. The end of the shaft 15 is screw-threaded, and tapped on the same is a nut 18. A ground joint 21 is preferably provided between the head 16 and the head 25 on the bushing 12, so that the device can be sealed by screwing up the nut 18.

In some cases a cover or cap 19 is screwed on the end of the bushing 12 and may be substituted for check-nut 14. The cap will act to catch the water in case of leakage.

When it is desired to clean the tube, the cap 19, if the same is used, is removed and the handle 20 is screwed on the end of the shaft 15. The nut 18 is slightly loosened and the handle 20 is rotated. This will rotate the wire spring 17 and will break down the scale and sediment deposited in the tube, and will thus thoroughly clean the tube.

It will be noted that the parts are permanently secured in place, that is, they do not have to be applied to the boiler when the tube is to be cleaned. It will also be noted that the spiral does not interfere with the circulation through the tube.

If,for anyreason it is desireds to get at the inside of the tube or to repair the boiler, it will be seen that the device can be taken down by loosening the nuts.

If desired, the spirals may be operated individually or collectively by power.

The details and arrangements herein shown and described may be greatly varied by a skilled mechanic without departing from the scope of my invention as expressed in the claims.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. The combination with a tube, of a handhole cover for the tube concentric therewith, a hollow bushing passing through the handhole cover extending inside thereof and hav ing a head located in a recess in said cover, a shaft journaled in said bushing and having a head inside the cover adapted to bear against said bushing head, a cleaning device connected with said shaft head and extending into the tube, the axes of the tube cleaning device and bushing being in the same line, and means outside the'coverfor rotating said shaft and cleaning device.

2. A permanently located cleaning device for water tube boilers comprising a hollow bushing extending through the hand 'hole cover and provided with a valve-seat on its inner end, a shaft passing through the bushing and having an enlarged head inside the boiler provided with a ground joint for engagement with said seat, a cleaning device connected with said head, and-means outside thecover for rotating said shaft while maintaining the steam-tight .joint between the head and said valve-seat.

3. In a boiler, the combination with atplurality of water tubes and a hand-hole cover located in front of the endof'each tube, of a bridge for each hand-hole-cover, a bushing removably mounted in each hand-holecover and passing through it,-each of said bushings having a valve-seat, a shaft passing through said bushings and having an enlarged head engaging said valve-seat and constituting a steam tight joint, a rotatable cleaner connected with each of said shafts and extending within each of said water tubes, and means for securing each of said shafts in position on its bushing and hand-hole cover so that it may be rotated from outside the hand-hole cover and retain the tightness of said steam tight oint.

4. In a boiler, the combination with a series of parallel water tubes located therein, of a rotatable cleaner located in each tube and'extending substantially the whole length thereof, a rotatable, non-reciprocable shaft concentric with each tube for rotating the cleaner, a removable bushing near the end of each tube in which said shaft is journaled, said bushing and shaft each having a head forming a steam tight oint at the inner end of the bushing constituting means for preventing the longitudinal motion of the shaft, whereby each shaft may be rotated when steam is on without permitting the escape of steam, a hand-hole cover op osite the end of each tube in which said bus ing is mounted, and means for securing said hand-hole covers, shafts and bushings in position.

5. In a boiler having hand holes therein, the combination with a plurality of water tubes located in said boiler, each having one end registering with one of said hand holes, of a cleaner located in each tube, a hand-hole cover ofpposite the end of each tube, and means "xed to each cleaner and extending through the adjacent hand hole cover for operating each cleaner individually from the outside, said means having a steam tight joint, whereby each tube may be cleaned individually from the outside without removing or replacing the connections and EUGENE J. MCCARTY.

Witnesses:

LOUIS W. SOUTHGATE, E. M. ALLEN. 

